Before I Met Danny
by onototellingoyou
Summary: This story is about change and how two boys could change the life and personality of one girl forever. A/U setting in the 8th grade. DashxSam friendship and romance. This story is made a little OOC only cause the author wanted it to be more realistic.
1. Prologue

**Yellow! I am back! With a DxS story no less! Sorry you DannyxSam pple but I declare that Dash and Sam need more stories so I shall supply it with one more! Tee hee! Anyways this prologue is 4 years in the future when Sam is 17 so four years back would be 14 in middle school. The WHOLE story starts out as the friendship/love story between Dash and Sam when they were younger and which will ultimately change Sam and Dash and make them out to be what they are now. J This chapter might seem sad-ish but don't worry. If anything I shall try for a happy ending! (though the happy ending will end where they are older so when Dash smooches -or do more- to her it'd be perfectly alright) By the way for those that read my other stories please don't read them! I totally stopped it cause I got flamed (for good reason) but I'm older (14-15) now so I present older kind of stories! (not older like that) but I might redo the Lovebirds story. It was kinda good. So enjoy! J**

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Prologue

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Sam was cleaning out her locker after school while waiting for her usual friends to join her when something unexpected happened. She was fingering an old notebook that she had kept in the back of her cubbyhole when a photo had slipped out from the pages. The snapshot was worn at the edges, wrinkly from many times of admiration, and was about four years old at first guess but still held an odd familiar sense of warmth. The picture was of a young teenage boy in the woods, half turned away but looking at the camera as he cocked an eyebrow with a small smile at his lips as if to say, _'Why are you taking a picture of me?'. _

Sam could've asked the same question as she brought the picture closer to her face for inspection. The boy had blonde hair and impeccably sharp blue eyes with a skinny but not scrawny figure. This was, without a doubt in Sam's mind, Dash Baxter. But why did she have a picture of _Dash _in her locker, least in one of her oldest journals that she use to carry around everywhere with? Wasn't it blatant to the whole school that she always hated Dash with a fiery intensity because he hated and bullied Danny and Tucker and they in returned despised him? It made no sense why she would keep, or even take, a picture of her worst enemy. Or even, in better thought, _when_ and _where _did she take the photograph. Or was it given to her? It made no sense! Sam Manson adored being on top of things though this unknown photograph she couldn't remember for her life how she got and why she had it seemed to steer clear of any answers and it frustrated her. So irritated was she, she hadn't noticed when someone leaned coolly on the locker next to hers.

"Hey Manson, where's Fenturd and Geeksquad?" a deep voice rung out tonelessly startling Sam so strongly she nearly jumped in the air.

"Oh! Um, Fenturd and Gee-," Sam shook her head furiously "I mean, Danny and Tucker are not home." A couple seconds later. "I mean I don't know where they are!" She nearly screamed out embarrassed and on the spot.

Dash who was watching her cocked an eyebrow and smiled a little at Sam's obvious discomfort, a smile identical to the one in the picture she held in her fingers… The picture! She snapped her hands behind her back and then internally scolded herself. What, was she so ignorant to believe that Dash wouldn't be suspicious of her odd behavior and not wonder what was in her hands? She wanted to slap herself.

The jock stared at her questionably. "What do you have there?" he asked leaning forward. A small smile slowly tugged at the corners of his mouth. "A script of insults for me," Dash paused "Or a little love note for your _Darling _Danny?" he said with a certain dislike dripping in his voice.

Sam wanted to hit him. _How dare he make fun of me, _she fumed silently but kept her mouth closed. For what could she tell Dash? That she had a picture of him when he was younger hiding in one of her notebooks for (probably) years that she had no clue about? And she could also add that she didn't like Danny? Even to her own ears it sounded ridiculous. The best route was just stay silent and leave and she intended to do so.

Sam had started to turn around when he swiped the photograph from her. It was so quick and unexpected that all she could do was count on her reflexes to grab onto his arm as he pulled his forearm back, inevitably pulling her into him. The strength of the tug felt like she was smashed against him as she unintentionally pressed Dash into the locker with her body. Sam's breath hitched from the proximity but didn't release her grip. Something in her gut told her that, even though it was a simple photograph, it was important that she didn't let Dash see it.

Dash's eyes flickered onto hers for a second, unbothered and at the same time wordlessly challenging her to do more before he, despite the fact that Sam held his arm down as fierce as her might could allow, lifted his arm (and slightly lifted Sam herself) to examine the object that Sam had tried so badly to hide.

His eyes widened slightly as his body grew stiff at what he saw and when his gaze shifted to Sam she had to let go of his arm. The look of emotion she wasn't familiar with was so strong she backed away from him.

"Sam…"

Suddenly she backed into something and turned to see it was Danny and Tucker. She turned and ran away from them. From all of them.

She knew at that moment why she had a picture of Dash in her notebook that she kept in her locker. She knew the why, when, what, and how but didn't want to know about it. Because now it hurt her. Because now it made her angry, and sad. It made her wish she did things differently, or that she hadn't met Danny or Dash at all.

But most of all, the most important thing that this new epiphany made her feel was want. The old feeling of wanting to be there for him, protecting him, and making him happy when he was sad arose with a vengeance. The feelings she one-sidedly only gave to Danny.

Sam had stopped running when she reached the wooded area near a river not so far from Amity park.

_A young teenage boy in the woods, half turned away but looking at the camera as he cocked an eyebrow with a small smile at his lips as if to say, 'Why are you taking a picture of me?'_

This is where it started. Sam closed her eyes as she began to remember in great detail about the boy in the snapshot. This is where they became friends four years ago.

She opened her eyes and laid down on the grassy floor and gazed into the sky.

"This is where we became friends four years ago," She said to no one at all as her mind was washed over with the boy in the photograph. "Right before I met Danny."


	2. Strong

**Hey, Sorry for the late update. I had stupid projects to do and I had writers block (its like a disease). This story actually does have a plot (which makes it much harder but more purposeful to write) so yeah. This chapter may be short and slow, but bear with it please because it just works to introduce the characters. Well, I don't own Danny Phantom but I do own my twisted mind. The world needs more Dash and Sam stories! So I must supply it for one more. This is AU, can be OOC depends on your point of view. Ready? Okay, lets go. (BTW, thanks for the 3 pple that reviewed me, A.K.A katchan02.. Something.. Sorry long name, and my sister, and the other one with another long name. I LOVE YOU MORE THAN DANNY PHANTOM AND I LOVE HIM A LOTS. Okay, lets get back to business but you guys are da bomb)**

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Chapter 2. _Look_

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Sam twirled in her dress while her mother and a few dressing maids clapped delightfully as Sam tried her best to put on a smile. At the age of 13 many things were demanded of her. Sam had to be polite to even the foulest of people, sit up straight keeping an upright posture constantly - and like these days when they visited Amity Mall, Sam had to wear all the scratchy, tight, expensive clothes usually found on plastic models that her mother loved to adorn her in. It wasn't that Sam didn't have clothes of the similar like in her own wardrobe. No, she herself buys expensive designer clothes for her own particular reasons, but her mother's taste was exaggeratedly over the top. It was the sort of kind that gets many rich people jumped.

It was getting exceptionally tiresome that Sam Manson found her eyes roaming as she, her mom, and their personal assistance strode through the shopping center. When her gaze finally fixed however, nervous butterflies sprouted in her belly. Across the room sitting in one of the tables in the food courts were the popular crowd. Sam feebly straightened down the creases in her skirt, dusted off imaginary dirt off her designer T-shirt, and threw a hand quickly in her hair to remove all the tangles. _'This is my chance,'_ Sam thought anxiously as her eyes rested on a well-liked Latino girl among the crowd of smiles and coolly gelled hair _'if I could get her to like me then I'm sure they'd let me into their group!' _

Sam took a deep breath, glanced to see if her mom was watching, and marched herself bravely to their table. Her paced only slowed down when she realized that Paulina was already occupied. The popular girl's manicured hand was resting intimately on a boy's arm as she animatedly spoke to him, loud with many eye rolls and 'like's in between and completely oblivious of the boy's disinterest. Sam pushed down the lump in her throat as she softly tapped Paulina's shoulder and for a brief moment she saw something of irritation in the girl's eyes as her gaze swept over Sam's face, clothes and to her face again before the look was swiftly replaced with a somewhat polite smile.

"Yes?" she asked in a honeyed tone, throwing everybody's attention to Manson.

Sam put on the best smile she could. "Hi Paulina,"

The other girl looked at her slightly skeptical "I'm sorry," she said not sounding too sorry at all "but do I know you?"

"I'm Sam Manson,"

A silent pause "Oh…"

Finally Sam understood. Paulina had no clue who she was even though they shared a few classes over the years and even had some now. Sam lowered her eyes, her face burning. "Um… I guess I better go," she said awkwardly meaning to look at Paulina but ending up avoiding her gaze and instead meeting the blue eyes of the one beside her "it was nice seeing all of you… um, bye," and she hurriedly left but certainly not before hearing noisy laughter behind her as she did.

000

Sam tried her best to fit in. She dressed like everybody else in Casper middle school, read the same kind of teen fashion magazines everybody else did, and practiced tirelessly on her everyday-girl speech.

"_So, like, you know," _Sam rehearsed uneasily to her grandma who looked at her in return as if she had two heads not one. Sam grunted in disappointment and threw her hands in the air. "Ah, I'm not getting any better!" she said heatedly.

"I don't know what you see in those kids," Granny put in as she scratched her nose. "Personally I think that you shouldn't give a hoot on what those 'in-crowd' people think. Your lovely the way you are."

But Sam would just shake her head and put on a frown. This was just one of those, 'be yourself' speeches that adults give out that didn't solve anything. Do they really believe that the popular kids would accept Sam for the loser she really was? Of course not! Obviously Granny's been brainwashed somewhere along those lines but still, Sam found it unsettling how her efforts were always unfruitful.

Sam lived to sit at that popular kid table and would do almost anything to be there, with those friends, and have that sort of lifestyle. So why was it that her attempts never worked?

Sam sighed as she strolled through Amity park. It was a beautiful day, birds were chirping, couples were kissing, and children were playing. Sam looked down on the ground miserably. It was almost as if the world was mocking her. Besides her grandma who preferred staying on the Manson estate, Sam had no one to hang out with during the day. So lonely and sad, Sam walked down the rocky gravel path until something caught her attention.

Striding a few yards away from her carrying a stuffed duffel bag was the boy that sat next to Paulina from that one day in the Mall. Sam watched as his form disappeared into a wooded area. Where was he going and what did he plan on doing there? Sam found herself following him through the trees.

The bright sunlight was filtered through the large swishing branches above as she moved after the boy. _'I can't believe I'm doing this,' _Sam thought briskly as she pushed past some bushes to keep him in sight, _'this is stalking, it's wrong!'. _But Sam's curiosity got the best of her and blinded whatever morals or logic that tried holding her back. She kept following. They traveled a good distance away before the blonde haired boy settled down and stretched while Sam took the time to look around. They were in (or rather _he _was in) a smallish circular clearing that was surrounded by enormous warm colored trees and was filled with greenish yellow grass. It was such a peaceful serene place and even from a distance Sam could hear the running water that promised a nearby river.

Sam watched the boy finish stretching and take out a jumping rope, weights, a yoga ball, a mat, and gloves as he forwent a series of exercises. Sam stared. Did this boy _really_ go out to the middle of the woods just to keep up his physical fitness? How peculiar! Sam had lost count of how many pushups he did but knew it was in the fifties. It was a vigorous workout containing plenty of jumping, sprinting, and lifting. In fact it was so intense that at one point he was sweating so much he had to stop, lift his shirt above his head, and throw the thin piece of clothing to the floor.

Sam let out a strangled cry.

The boy's head snapped towards the direction where Sam hid and she froze. She could see his dark blue eyes narrowing as his gaze searched for the criminal who made the noise; all the while Sam huddled behind the thin bush trying to limit the shivering. _'Good going, Sam,' _she thought sourly _'if you're going to stalk the kid, can't you do it at least reasonably?' _She watched in horror as he stepped towards her bush then stop, stare for a few seconds, then return back to his workout. Sam thanked God. After awhile of calming her breath she was able to observe his workout again. He was practicing a fighting style.

A torrent of fists pumped the air as he glided across the clearing as he kicked, ducked and dived. It was like a dance. Each move deliberate, quick, and skillful with a clear mask of concentration on the trainer's face. Sam felt mystified and genuinely baffled. The boy had to be about the same age as herself yet he could do fifty pushups and fight like he was born into combat. Sam waited for him to finish and lay down on the grassy floor before she left. She had spent about two hours there at the clearing but Sam didn't feel tired. No, she didn't feel tired at all.

Because now Sam had found her new passion.

Ever since she could remember she wanted to fit in and be a part of the popular crowd, and Sam figured that part of her would never change. But now Sam could have a side goal that would serve as a good distraction when failing at achieving her main ambition would bring her down.

Because now Sam had abruptly two goals.

_One. To win the affections of the popular crowd. _

_And two,_

To become strong.


End file.
